p2pnet.net News:- “Enough, already!” - says the California Institute of Technology’s Michael Brown, the man who discoverered Xena, a dwarf planet slightly larger than Pluto.

Reaction to Pluto’s resultant new status - as a dwarf planet - has been, “mixed among scientists and on the internet,” says the CBC.

“Eight is enough,” it has Brown saying, referring to the number of planets now recognized in the solar system. His discovery of Xena, “sealed the fate of little Pluto”.

And on his home page, “The new definition essentially corrects an astronomical mistake from 76 years ago, and shows that astronomy can move forward in the face of new information about the solar system,”declares Brown.

“Pluto is now rightly classified with the rest of the recently discovered Kuiper belt objects, rather than awkwardly stuck in with the planets.”

But, “I understand that people are mourning,” he states.

“I understand that people are in pain. Pluto, like all of the planets, is part of our mental landscape of the universe around us. It is a sign post in how we view our neighborhood. We all know a few inviting facts that help to personalize the sign post, even: the funny tilted orbit, the giant moon, the discovery by a Kansas farm boy. Ripping such a sign post out feels wrong, like the feeling you got when you were a kid and your best friend across the street moved to another state never to be heard from again. How can it be true?”

But, “enough about Pluto, OK?” - he adds. “I’ve got my own mourning to do.

“By the same decision that relegated Pluto to a mere dwarf planet, Xena (aka 2003 UB313), which I discovered 19 months earlier ago, also got the official boot.”

Also See:
new status - Pluto ‘dwarf’ vote ‘embarrassing’, August 25, 2006
CBC - Is 8 enough? Reaction mixed to Pluto’s demotion, August 25, 2006